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Washington Evening Journal
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Fairfield falls twice
Trojan hoops loses non-conference home games
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FAIRFIELD — The Fairfield basketball teams each had a big hill to climb this week, as the Trojan girls faced Grinnell and the boys hosted Pella Christian on back to back nights.
The two nights had similar results, as slow starts spelled doom for both teams. The Fairfield girls dropped their contest 62-44, and the boys fell 80-37.
The Trojan girls only scored one point in the first six minutes, trailing by double digits early before crawling back to within striking distance in the second half. Fairfield managed to score a game-high 17 points in the third quarter, but the Tigers were one step better, putting up 23 in the third and holding off the Trojans in the fourth.
“They did a great job with their pressure,” said Fairfield girls coach Brian Witzenberg. “And when we went against their pressure, we had to attack it. Right now, we’re just a little passive with that.”
Vanessa Kessel led a balanced scoring attack with nine points. Lauren Martin had eight. Elyse Setterstrom scored seven. Faith Jones had six. Maddy Martin put up four, and the trio of Emma Septer, Anne McAvan and Emma Metcalf had three each.
The Fairfield boys' team was shorthanded on Tuesday night due to the flu bug, and it showed in a rough outing against a much bigger Pella Christian team.
The Eagles flew past the Trojans in every single quarter, leading 40-16 at halftime and playing much of the second half in a running clock situation.
“Everybody they start is bigger than everybody we put on the floor,” said Fairfield boys coach Nate Perkins. “So, the two combined to make it a difficult situation for us, since we were missing a key player or two.”
Ethan Bisgard, who was hounded by a 6’7 defender all night long, still managed to score 13 points. Spencer McCready finished with eight. Brock Atwood had seven. Xavier Kessel scored five, and both Axl Starr and Rowan Kness chipped in two.
The losses dropped Fairfield to 3-11 in girls basketball and 2-11 on the boys’ side. The Trojans will be at Washington on Friday night for a Southeast Conference clash.
